Medieval Greek Manuscripts

TCD MS 31 folio 1v: 12th-century Gospels with catena

When the Library acquired the books of James Ussher, archbishop of Armagh and primate of All Ireland, after his death in 1656, it also acquired the manuscripts which form the core of the collection of Greek manuscripts. These are being catalogued in detail and digitized for the first time.

What would Ussher have thought about his manuscripts being published on the world-wide web? He would certainly have been astonished, but not displeased. For someone with a global view, as he had, reaching out to different cultures and languages was part
of his world view. Neither would he have suffered qualms of possessiveness, since he had a remarkable attitude to the sharing of books. He would probably have been relieved of the anxiety of lending the unique physical objects, when virtual reproduction could serve so well the scope of distant and diverse research.

The list of Greek manuscripts in the Library comprises over one hundred items. Of these, a select group of 24 manuscripts are the object of this first survey. Detailed catalogue entries, compiled by Dr Barbara Crostini, are linked to the digitized manuscripts as the project progresses.